Changes Book Prize

Established in 2022 to champion innovative work by emerging poets, the Changes Book Prize awards $10,000 and publication for a first or second collection of poems. In addition to the cash prize, winners receive international distribution and a launch event in NYC. In its first three years, the prize has been judged by some of the most distinguished voices in contemporary poetry, including Louise Glück, Eileen Myles, and Terrance Hayes.

This year’s winning manuscript will be selected by Simone White.

Submissions open Sept 1 – Oct 1, 2025


2026 Judge: Simone White


Simone White is the author of the forthcoming Warring (Duke University Press), or, on being the other woman (Duke University Press, 2022), Dear Angel of Death (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2018), Of Being Dispersed (Futurepoem, 2016), and House Envy of All the World (Factory School, 2010), the poetry chapbook, Unrest (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2013), and the collaborative poem/painting chapbook, Dolly (with Kim Thomas) (Q Ave, 2008). Her poetry and writing on art, music and literature have been featured in Artforum, e-flux, Harper’s Magazine, BOMB Magazine, Chicago Review, Frieze, The Paris Review, Mousse Magazine, and The New York Times Book Review among other places. Her honors include the 2023 Dorothea Tanning Award from the Foundation for Contemporary Art, a 2021 Creative Capital Award, a 2017 Whiting Award in Poetry, Cave Canem Foundation fellowships, and recognition as a New American Poet for the Poetry Society of America in 2013. A graduate of Wesleyan University, she holds a JD from Harvard Law School, an MFA from the New School, and a PhD in English from CUNY Graduate Center. She is Associate Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania and serves on the writing faculty of the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College.

First readers: Katie Hindle, Rodney Dailey, Sophia Durose, Isabel Boutiette, and Bennet Bergman



Contest Guidelines


Eligibility

  1. The Changes Book Prize is open to residents of the United States who have not published (or committed to publishing) more than one book-length collection of poetry with a registered ISBN.
  2. Submissions for the competition must be submitted no earlier than September 1, 2025 and no later than October 1, 2025 at 11:59 pm EST.
  3. Current or former students, colleagues, employees, family members, and close friends of the judge are not eligible for the prize.

Standards & Commitments

  1. From year to year, The Changes Book Prize series aims to reflect the variousness of what is possible in poetry. To that end, we are committed to publishing work from the widest possible range of practices and perspectives.
  2. Criteria for selecting a winning manuscript are broad; the judge and first readers do not screen submissions with a preference for any particular “style” or type of poetry, and emphatically are not looking for work that bears an affinity to their own.
  3. The Changes Book Prize is administered in accordance with the Code of Ethics developed by the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP). The judge will use an anonymous review process to select the winning manuscript.

Submission Guidelines

  1. Submissions must be original poetry manuscripts written in the English language. Poems published in print or online periodicals, anthologies, or chapbooks may be included, but the manuscript itself must be unpublished. Translations and works by multiple authors are not accepted.
  2. Manuscripts must be a minimum of 48 numbered pages, including the title page and table of contents. All manuscripts must be paginated.
  3. Upload your manuscript as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf file. Include a title page with the title only and a table of contents. Author’s name should not appear on any pages within the uploaded document.
  4. Where indicated on Submittable, include a brief bio (no more than 200 words) and a list of acknowledgments of previously published poems. Do not include acknowledgements, biographical information, or any other cover letter within the document of the manuscript.
  5. Revisions or corrections are not permitted once your manuscript has been submitted. The prizewinner will have an opportunity to edit their manuscript prior to publication.
  6. You may simultaneously submit your manuscript elsewhere, but please notify us immediately if it is accepted for publication.
  7. Changes reserves the right of the judge to not choose a winner for any given year of the competition.







Submit here







“As Variously As Possible” “As Variously As Possible”